
Steps in the 
Life of Faith. 



REV. J. R. PARKER. 





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<M^yt<<L^s4vL 



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STEPS 



IN THE 



lipe §r FAITH 



OR 



TRUSTING GOD IN WORK, 



BY 



REV. J. R. PARKER 



'THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT OVERCOWETH THE 
WORLD, EVEN YOUR EAITH." 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE HELPING HAND SOCIETY, 
PHILOMATH, OREGON. 

COPYRIGHTED 1903 BY J. R. PARKER. 



Y ■> CONFESS 
Twe C«pias Received 

MAR 3 1904 

Copyrigm tin-try 
CwS* W XXc. No, 
COPY 8 l 



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1/ 



PREFATORY. 



Is it a matter of course that the Infinite God should 
reveal Himself? How unspeakable, then, the privilege if 
man he so constituted that he may recognize God in His 
revelations ! 

But do we not often look for Him in the Word and the 
starry heavens only? It seems to me we shall gain infin- 
itely if we emphasize to ourselves the fact that He is also 
now revealing Himself. 

He did reveal Himself in the history of a nation. 
The Bible is its faithful record. He is still revealing Him- 
self in the history of individuals and institutions, if we 
but train ourselves to recognize Him. 

But He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and forever," 
and of course He reveals Himself now in accordance with 
the very principles and promises of the great record of 
revelation. 

The value of this little book lies in the simple em- 
phasis it puts upon the fact that " Our Father " is glad to 
make known to us, in the happenings and history of our 
own lives, that He is the living God, and that we may be 
sure of His mighty help when our spirit and our purposes 
coincide with His. I bespeak and pray for its message a 
wide and helpful hearing. 

B. E. EMERICK, 
Pres. Philomath College. 
Philomath, Oregon, Dec. 11, 1903. 



FAITH BEG I NNING S. 

CHAPTER I. 

As it is not my purpose to write a history of my 
life, only so far as it will throw light upon the sub- 
ject in hand, I shall pass almost entirely any refer- 
ence to my life in childhood and youth. I was born 
June 14. 1862, and early in life it pleased the Lord 
to awaken in me a desire to lead a good and pure 
life. My parents at that time were not professors of 
religion, but were respectable and moral people, who 
frequently attended church, though not very regular. 
My mother was a constant Bible reader and other 
religious literature was found in the home, but fam- 
ily prayers were unknown unless perchance some 
minister happened to stop with us. I was past seven- 
teen before any active step was taken toward being 
religious, and had at that age seen much of the ways 
of sin. My one regret was that I had grieved the 
Spirit so long. As I now recall the events, it seems 
that an awful sense of darkness overcame me, and 
for three days, not knowing what was troubling me, 
under a sense of fear and dread, I was seeking to 
correct my life. That was a memorable winter 
(1879-80). Revival seemed to be everywhere. Rev. 
D. B. Myers was then pastor of Lincolnville Circuit, 
White River Conference. Pleasant Grove, near our 
home, was one of his appointments. Religion at that 
time was at a low ebb in the community. Various 



attempts had been made both by the United Brethren 
and Methodists at revival work, but for years no 
revival of a very wide spread character had been ex- 
perienced. At times the tide would set in and it 
would seem that the answer to many prayers was at 
hand, then it would recede again, and the commun- 
ity would again drift into worse worldliness than 
ever. When a young boy, upon the occasion of one 
of these incoming tides, a meeting was being con- 
ducted by an aged Methodist Minister. There seemed 
to be quite an interest manifest. Some were seeking 
the Lord. One night the old minister came down the 
aisles shaking hands with every body and inviting 
them to come to Christ. I stood next the aisle, and 
felt that if he should speak to me I should have to go, 
and at once I wished in my heart to be let alone. 
He shook hands with all as far as he could reach, 
and left me standing unnoticed. My wish had been 
granted. How lost I now felt as the thought came in- 
to my mind of the possibility of being left out of 
heaven. I then wished he had spoken to me. It was 
too late. He was gone. I was left in my sins, 
though I never could shake off the impressions of 
that hour. 

The meeting of the winter of 1879 and 1880 was 
destined to be the turning point in many lives. It 
seems as though sin had burned itself out, and the 
people wanted something better. My oldest brother, 
Rev. W. F. Parker now of St. Joseph conference, 
and Rev. R. Z. Brown now of Oregon conference, 
with many others had been greatly awakened in 
religion. Not only had the public services been 
quickened, but house to house prayer-meetings added 
fuel to the flame. Local preachers and laymen from 
St. Joseph conference points had come across the 

4 



border and were publishing the tidings of new found 
joy in God. These Spirit filled workers seemed to 
kindle fires wherever they went, as so many brands 
in dry stubble, or as Sampson's foxes in the Phili- 
stine's wheat. And if in these meetings some ex- 
cesses were manifest, and some very orderly brethren 
grew nervous for fear the train would derail and up- 
set, I am of the opinion that the amount of good 
done and the number of souls started heavenward 
more than compensates all fears and violations of 
of human sense of religious decorum. But the meet- 
ing of which I especially speak was the regular re- 
vival service of the year. Rev. D. E. Myers was a 
calm and forceful speaker. He always instructed as 
well as made you feel. In a few days a deep interest 
was manifest. It is but natural for me to remember 
those sermons as the best I ever heard. Those scenes 
of twenty-four years ago, and the impressions of 
those hours in the house of God are indelibly stamped 
upon my mind. No song has ever had such a charm 
as the song of that night, the night I stepped over 
the line for God. 

"Whispering softly wanderer come, 

Follow me I'll guide thee home" 

In memory I hear it yet. What a relief when a 
schoolmate proposed to go to the altar if I would. 
We went. Three or four others followed. What a 
time- I'll never forget how my brother behaved. In 
his earlier years he had tried to be religious under 
a deal of discouraging circumstances, had backslid- 
den, and now, being restored to favor with Christ, 
was serving as class leader. He was the only member 
of our family at this time that professed religion. 
When I stepped into the aisle and started forward 
his part of the singing stopped. He tried to control 



himself, but it was no us© Shouts of "Salvation 
is free," "Hallelujah" and " Glory to God" filled the 
house. He seemed the happiest man I ever saw. 

Much as I love to linger with these scenes, duty- 
beckons us onward. This mountain is not a place 
to pitch a tent. Suffice to say that it was amid such 
holy surroundings that I was "born again" Dec. 18, 
1879, and this meeting was the beginning of a re- 
vival of religion that continued almost without ceas- 
ing for five or six years, and out of which went sev- 
eral ministers of the gospel. The unity of spirit 
among believers was amazing. Every class and pray- 
er meeting was an "upper room" time. And although 
there was not an entire agreement as to points in 
teaching, the Holy Spirit so indwelt the hearts of 
God's people that these differences of opinion did 
not hinder the revival until afterwards, when they 
became matters of dispute and contention, the re- 
vival began to decline. I have seen in prayer and 
class meetings, strong hearted, stalwart sinners, brok- 
en to pieces under the power of the Spirit and con- 
verted to Christ. 

With my new found life and joy came an intense 
desire to do something for Christ. I at once set 
about such christian work as I could find to do, little 
thinking that at a later date the call of the Lord to 
preach his word was to be made known to me. I 
had an intense longing to know the Word of God, 
and found my chief joy in prayer and meditations. 
At an early date in my christian life there opened 
to my view practical ideas as to what it meant to be 
a christian. In memory these life beginnings come 
clearly into view. I was made to see them, as clearly 
in fact as now, though I did not then have the clear 
light of the Word upon it, that man's chief concern 

6 



should be to please his God, and that whatever he 
did should be to glorify his Maker. I remember how 
completely my notions of life in general, and of mon- 
ey and talents seemed changed. Religion had not 
only brought to my heart the joy of pardoned sin, 
but somehow my whole notion of life seemed 
changed. Once I dreamed of finding a pot of money, 
and upon waking the thought of what I should do 
with such a sum had it been true, almost overcame 
me. I had an intense love for certain kinds of agri- 
cultural pursuits. My first thought was to buy a 
large farm and engage in farming for the Lord. No 
words can describe the imaginary joy that was mine 
as in fancy I saw the golden harvests and herds that 
would come of obedience to God. But then I thought 
of the mortgage on the old farm, and of some of my 
brothers who were poor and struggling against the 
tide and of a host of poor men who needed encourage- 
ment and help, and ere I was aware the scene had 
entirely changed. The mortgage on the old home 
had been lifted, my brothers and a score of other 
poor men were occupying comfortable homes upon 
small farms bought out of that pot of money. One 
of the earliest inclinations of my christian life was 
to unite the spiritual and practical, and I now be- 
lieve had I been permitted to fellowship at that time 
those who had learned to trust God in temporal as 
well as spiritual things I would have made much 
more rapid progress in the life of faith. 

From my earliest youth, I hungered for knowledge, 
and sought it in every obtainable book; some how- 
ever, was read to my sorrow. When converted, I 
hungered for the word of God, of which at the time 
I was very ignorant. It was not any great know- 
ledge of the Scriptures that led me to Christ. It was 

7 



the hunger and cry of a heart under the conviction 
of the Holy Spirit. Now that life and peace had 
come, I wanted to know the will of him who had so 
graciously shown me to be a great sinner. The Word 
of God was becoming more than meat and drink to 
my soul. Step by step was I being led into the life of 
faith and a spiritual ministry of service. As I came 
to know God through his Word, and to see the un- 
speakable love of Jesus for a lost world, my heart 
burned more than ever to be of service to Christ 
and when later it came clearly to my mind that 
God had laid his hand on me for the gospel ministry, 
the sacrifice required was not that of an unwilling 
mind, but rather that of preconceived notions of what 
my life's work should be. At the time of my call 
to the ministry of the Word, I was consciously, 
though not perfectly, living up to all the light I had. 
I did not choose the ministry. At this time I was 
hesitating between electing and agricultural life or 
one of the professions as my future line of work. 
I had strong inclinations to law and medicine as 
desirable pursuits, and had taken up some read- 
ing along these lines. My call to the ministry 
was as marked and distinct as my conversion, 
and was as unexpected to me then as any thing 
that ever happened in my life. Somehow the 
idea gripped me, and I could not get away from it. 
Christ seemed to say to me, "This is the way. Walk 
ye in it." It rang in my ears. I was constrained to 
ask the privilege to try to speak. About all I remem- 
ber was the words I used as texts. My timidity rose 
as a great barrier and often drove me to God in 
prayer for grace to stand before the people. Good 
it was for me that the Lord had taught me some- 
thing of prayer and trust in him ere his call was 

8 



manifest to me. This kept a constantly quickened 
conscience, and saved me not only from backsliding, 
but helped me to steer clear of a great many rocks 
and shoals. I was licensed to preach in March 1881, 
but did little preaching for two or three years. The 
fact is, I could not preach. I could tell my experience, 
and that was about all. I was not long in finding 
out that one called of God to preach must have 
something more than an experience of religion. At 
this point I met two difficulties. First, a great many 
good people told me that if I was called of God to 
preach, I ought to drop every thing and begin then 
and there, that the Lord would fill my mouth if I 
would but open it in his name, and if I stopped to 
go to school I would be held to account for all the 
souls of men and women I might save while in 
school. This kept me undecided what to do, and 
therefore I accomplished little, although in this state 
of mind I taught and went to school by turns. Happy 
for the young people of the twentieth century that 
the most of the above class of good people have 
gone to heaven. Second, when I had once decided 
to take a course of training I was unable to keep con- 
stantly at it. After leaving the common schools, I 
could at best attend a school of higher learning but 
a few months at a time. This and that was resorted 
to as a help, with no better results. Though T had 
learned to carry all to God in prayer, I had not 
learned in all to trust Him alone. At times J be- 
came almost entirely discouraged, thinking a training 
was not for me. Twice during these years I appealed 
to prominent men in the church who promised to help 
me secure aid from the Beneficiary Fund, but never 
heard of it afterwards. Probably to these facts more 
than any others may be attributed the concern I now 



have for young persons in like circumstances. 
While the experience thuts obtained under difficulties 
is valuable, the loss sustained for want of an oppor- 
tunity to pursue a course of study without inter- 
ruption cannot be repaid. I must limp through life 
as a result of it. It is thifs deep sense of my own 
loss that has helped to stir me up to do something 
to help those who are on the same road. And when 
seven years ago the call came from membens of the 
board of trustees of Philomath College to take hold 
of the business management of the institution, the 
cry of my heart was, 'If the Lord bless me in this 
place, the poor shall have a share in it." The way of 
disappointment is sometimes hard, especially if it 
involves the fact of ones usefulness in life, but if 
while traveling it, you find that which will help 
others to realize their hopes, you may endure with 
grace your own loss. 

"Each loss has its own compensation, 
There is healing for each pain: 
But the bird with the broken pinion 
Never soared so high again." 



10 



MINISTERIAL LABORS. 



CHAPTER II. 

In February 1883 I decided to do something in 
the ministry. My health had almost broken down 
in teaching and I decided to change climate. About 
this time I received a letter from Bishop N. Castle 
in answer to inquiries I had made about Oregon. I 
kept that letter a long time, because of what seemed 
to me to be very safe advice for any young man. 
Ho did not paint the glowing possibilities of the 
country. He simply stated that the field was a needy 
one and then pointed cut some of its difficulties, clos- 
ing by saying, "Be sure of your call, lest the devil 
upset your faith." This made a deep impression on 
my mind. I have often since found the Bishop to be 
a wise counsellor. Rev. C. C. Bell, a former school- 
mate in Roanoke Seminary, had gone to the coast 
the fall before, and had written me, urging my com- 
ing at once After two or three weeks consideration 
and prayer the decision was made, and on March 
26, I was on my way. Time and space will not per- 
mit anything more than a mere mention of the fact 
that we could not then go as quickly as now. No 
railroad connections between Oregon and the East 
made it necessary to go via San Francisco and up the 
coast by steamer. It took from eight to ten days for 
emmigrant trains to make the journey to "Frisco," 
and three days by steamer to Portland. What a 

n 



change has come with years! Portland is now 
the terminal of five trans-continental railways, and 
by the Harriman systems, including the Southern and 
Union Pacific line's, you can make the journey be- 
tween Chicago and Portland or San Francisco in 
seventy hours. 

I found a needy field. During the summer I en- 
gaged in camp meeting work. I here met Bishop 
Castle. Philomath was his home. He was at this 
time superintendent of the Coast Distrist. My spirit- 
ual life was greatly quickened by these meetings, 
and I decided to make Oregon my future field of 
work. I was charmed, ais I have ever since been with 
its natural beauty. There is something about the 
beauty of this coast country which if one once be- 
comes fascinated with it, spoils him for living in 
places not so bleissed with natural scenery. Then 
again, the more one sees of it, the more is he im- 
pressed by the thought that it is destined to become 
as great in population as it is in undeveloped ma- 
terial wealth, and natural beauty. I found the same 
revival spirit here as in Indiana. The camp meet- 
ings of this summer were seasons of spiritual power 
and many sinners were converted and believers 
sanctified. At the annual camp meeting at Philo- 
math, June 30, I first met Miss Dora E. Newton to 
whom on Sept. 30 the following fall I was united 
in marriage. This union though of such brief ac- 
quaintance, we have had many reasons to believe 
was in the Lord. She had been brought up by 
pious parents, was early converted to Christ, and had 
been a member of the Methodist church since thir- 
teen years of age. Her religious ideas seemed ad- 
mirably suited to my own. To the influence of her 
life for good upon my own am I indebted more than 

12 



to any other human agency. I should many times 
have been disheartened and given up the struggle 
had not her constancy in prayer and faith supple- 
mented my own. With the return of health and 
strength I hoped to continue school work. In the 
fall I was offered a position in the college at Philo- 
math to assist in teaching, in connection with which I 
took up again my studies which were carried through 
the fall and winter terms. Having undertaken to 
carry full time in teaching and full course work in 
study, I broke down under it and left school at close 
of winter term. Broken health compelled me to 
almost entirely quit study and resort to such outdoor 
work as I could pick up. This was a season of great 
discouragement. With an empty pocket, poor health 
and a discouraged heart, I found the poorly organ- 
ized conditions at that time existing in Oregon not 
very encouraging for one in my circumstances, and 
under a fit of homesickness decided with my wife to 
return to Indiana, which we did in Sept. 1884. I 
have since regarded this move as not being in the 
Lord, entailing as it did sacrifice and inconvenience 
to others. I had appealed to my father for help, and 
as a natural consequence in cases where parents 
love their children, he came to my help, though it 
involved his borrowing on his own account the money 
to help me. Through this step we were permitted to 
get into a considerable debt, but seeing our mis- 
take, the Lord graciously used it as a means to open 
our eyes to better things. From that day to the 
present, through the aid of our most merciful Heaven- 
ly Father, we have not consciously taken a step that 
has financially inconvenienced others, or gotten our- 
selves seriously into bondage. Upon arrival in In- 
diana I found that we were in no better circum- 

13 



stances to extricate ourselves from our difficulties 
than had we remained in Oregon. My thought was 
to immediately return to Oregon at any cost, and 
although my wife was far from her native home 
among strangers, she begged me to stay until we 
made enough money to return without further debt. 
To the good /sense of a woman I yielded, a thing I 
have often since found to be of great advantage. 
Hastily gathering together a few things we prepared 
for the winter. About Dec. 1 we entered service with 
Rev. Wm. Simons, Goblesville Circuit, St. Joseph 
Conference as helpers. We could both sing and I 
could talk some. We helped Brother Simons for 
three months and saw about eighty persons turn to 
Christ and profess saving faith. Here I date the 
real beginning of my spiritual ministry, for pre- 
vious to this I had done no preaching to speak of. 
I believe it was during this winter that I received 
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which has been with 
me with more or less manifest fullness ever since. 
Somehow from that time to the present I have 
known a power in my life unknown before. 

While waiting at the home of a brother Dinnius 
en our way to the Forest appointment during a two 
days snow storm, a copy of "Muller's Life of Trust" 
came into our hands. Up to this time we had met 
no one who seemed to have had much exercise of 
faith in God for temporal things, our only light in 
this direction being that which the Lord had been 
pleaded to teach us through his word in our own 
experience. The testimony of God's faithfulness to 
his promises as appearing in this narrative of trust 
greatly helped our feeble faith. We had read vol- 
ume after volume on the "Spiritual Life," "The In- 
ner Life," "The Interior Life" and many phases of 

14 



the "Life of Holiness," Life of Blessing," etc.; but 
here was a simple narrative that rivited itself more 
upon our attention than all the books of human 
writers we had ever read. Such were the benefits 
derived from the reading of this simple narrative, 
that every early impression of my christian life 
seemed revived, and a renewed consecration to God 
and his work was the result. Up to this time conse- 
cration had seemed rather vague, and the writing's 
I read upon spiritual subjects seemed more theo- 
retical than real. In fact the attempt to explain 
certain religious experiences occupied more space 
than narrating what the writer knew, or what was 
being done through the experience obtained. But in 
"Muller's Life of Trust" I perceived an entirely dif- 
erent tone. There wae something in it so real and 
vital than it reminded me of the Acts of the Apostles, 
or the simple story of the Gospel as given in the 
Scriptures. I was brought face to face with a man, 
then living just across the waters, where God was 
daily hearing and answering his prayers. Perhaps 
my financially stranded condition had much to do 
with these impressions, but it matters not what 
explanation may be given as accounting for the dif- 
ference in the impressions made upon my mind by 
these different treatises, I am cure of one thing, I 
was in a state of desperate need. That need was 
not simply inward and spiritual. It was outward and 
tangible. I was pennyleiss. I needed money. I 
needed it badly. I began to trust God. Faith 
sprang up in my heart the faith as never before that 
the same God that heard my cry for forgiveness 
would hear my cry in temtporal conditions when I 
needed help. From that day I began to see more 
clearly than ever before the following points as set 

15 



forth in the scriptures: 

1. God our Father and Jesus Christ our Savior, 
not only pardons and cleanses from sin, but are 
our partners. 

2. By faith in this real partnership or fellowship 
with God and our Savior Jesus Christ, we not only 
have spiritual security, but are promised temporal 
help. 

3. That Jesus, as the King of God's Kingdom 
on earth, and the head of all principalities and power 
in heaven and earth, works all things for good to 
them that love him. 

4. That all needed blessings, temporal or spirit- 
ual, may be obtained from God through prayer and 
faith by all who meet conditions. 

5. That to live such a life, man must be entirely 
given up to God. Self must be crucified. Every 
interest temporal and spiritual, must be submitted 
to the King and brought into the Kingdom. 

6. That using the partnership we have with the 
Father and Son we need not tell our personal needs 
to man, but may obtain them through faith and 
prayer. 

7. That man is simply a steward and not an 
owner in the possession of time, talents, property, 
opportunities, influence, etc., and must account to 
God for their use. 

Writing as I am away from any notes whatever 
of this period I am compelled to draw solely from 
memory, but the above is in brief a sketch of the 
ideas impressed upon my mind at that time. With 
these truths burning upon our hearts, we renewed our 
consecration als above mentioned, establishing the 
following simple rules as a guide to our faith in fu- 
ture emergencies. 

16 



1. To at once repent of known sin and acknow- 
ledge a wrong. 

2. To carry every need to God in prayer, and 
especially tell no man of our personal needs. 

3. Not to contract debts, especially when we had 
no means back of us should we suddenly be removed 
and thereby others be inconvenienced. 

4. To decide no important matter when in a 
stata of discouragement, or distrust, or under any 
pressure whatsoever. 

5. To let matters alone upon which we could not 
obtain clear light. 

6. To give at least one tenth of our income, be 
it (small or large, to benevolent purposes. 

In these principles my wife heartily joined me 
and has ever since helped to maintain them. On 
one evening the week following in the course of 
my remarks I told the brethren in public what joy 
I had found in God, how I had been perplexed over 
financial matters, and that from then on, God being 
my helper, I should tell my needs to Christ only 
and trust him alone to supply them. Brother S — 
chided me, saying, "I wanted to take up a big col- 
lection for you, but now your speech has spoiled 
it all." We surely needed "a big collection." The 
brother was not a little surprised as well as pleaised 
to know that we had received at the close of the 
meeting much more than his "big collection" would 
doubtless have been, for the Lord gave us there 
mere money than we had received in the two former 
meetings. 

The following June (1885) we returned to Oregon 
and began work for God upon a different plan. For 
eight years we practically lived in our trunks. We 
spent part of this time in pastoral work, part in 

17 



school; but the larger part was given to a line of 
evangelistic work in neglected fields where there was 
the least human likelihood of a support. Through it 
all, God manifest hils hand, we were net only de- 
livered from formier debts, our current needs met, 
not only enabled to give one-tenth, but often more, 
and also kept in peace of mind as to the future. We 
now regard those eight years of "cloud and pillar" 
life as in many sensete the most precious in our ex- 
perience. We would not have the reader understand 
that we think such a life has been peculiar to us. 
Far from it. It would doubtless be manifest that 
scores of God's dear children have had similar ex- 
periences, were they recorded. I have met many 
laymen who have told me of God's manifest help 
in answer to prayer in times of special financial 
and other needs, as well as similar occurrances in 
the lives of many of God's ministers. It is chiefly 
for the purpose of encouraging others to trust God 
that we undertake thi's record of God's faithfulness. 
The children of God cannot develop a strong faith 
without trials. Strength comes from exercise, and 
exercise of faith is possible only as we face diffi- 
culties. 

A want of space will not permit even an attempt 
to record the many instances of God's faithfulness 
or the showers of blessings that fell upon numerous 
revival efforts and pastoral labors. In 1885-86 we 
labored in city mission work in San Francisco, Oak- 
land and Alameda, Calif., and for five months at- 
tended a private school for training christian workers 
upon the plan of faith and industry, students working 
and studying alternately, and conducting Mission 
work also. A whole volume would be required to 
record God's many mercies in connection with this 

18 



work. We traveled circuits in Oregon and Washing- 
ton, and also assisted at times other pastors in 
labors. From 1893 to 1896 I traveled Western Oregon 
and Washington and part of Eastern Oregon as Pre- 
siding Elder of Oregon Conference. 

In the winter of 1887 we were invited to hold a 
meeting in a community much in need of a revival. 
After three hard weeks work no financial help what- 
ever was received, though at that time we were much 
in need We had to thank God for the trials as well 
as the blessings, believing He would make it up to us 
elsewhere and hold our peace. Another meeting 
followed where we assisted a pastor in a three weeks 
meeting that resulted in several conversions and the 
organization of a new class of his denomination. 
He already had an assured salary of $600,00 and ex- 
pected this new class to supplement that amount 
somewhat. For our three weeks labor he gave us 
$1.00, saying he was sorry he could not pay us more. 
Here was an excellent opportunity to test that prom- 
ise of God's word, "In everything by prayer and 
supplication with thanksgiving make your request 
known unto God." According to our consecration 
we had to take the dollar, thank him for it, and then 
appealed the case to headquarters. The Lord would 
not allow us to even judge him or think evil of him. 
In prayer we told the Lord that we could not live on 
such pay, and that as he had not made that pastor 
see that we needed money as well as himself, we 
asked him to be pleased to supply our needs from 
other sources. He was as true as his promise. 

The reader must not conclude that we regard our- 
selves as having been martyrs, or having attained 
unto a life of faith unlike that which may be lived 
by others, or that a life of faith is opposed to regular 

19 



methods of church work or doing things. Far from 
it. But we would have you know that where regular 
methods do not exist, or when they fail because of 
the carelessness of those who are entrusted with 
church machinery, the pastor or christian worker 
has access to a throne of grace where his needs may 
be met without sacrificing his honor as a servant of 
Christ, or becoming a pauper. I can see no special 
objection to the salary system in supporting the 
ministery. It has many things to commend it. But 
I am of the opinion that a system of "free will" offer- 
ings based upon the promises of the King meets 
more the mind of the Lord and affords an opportunity 
for a grip upon the promises of God not had under 
any other arrangement. There is a woeful want of 
information among people in many places upon the 
question of the scriptural obligation to support the 
ministry. The church has no literature upon the 
subject to speak of. It seems to me that a great need 
at present, at least where I have labored among min- 
isters and people generally, is a practical church 
literature upon such questions I am sure that the 
effort to supply this would be abundantly blessed 
of the Lord. This coupled with a quickening and 
deepening of the spiritual life among the people in 
general, and the ministry in particular, will go a 
long way toward correcting the ills complained of 
along financial lines. God is certainly interested in 
the temporal prosperity of the church as well as 
her spiritual life. In fact the spiritual is to dominate 
the whole life of the individual member of Christ's 
body. The obligation to respond to the claims of 
Christ upon our temporal income is as spiritual in 
nature as any other laid upon the christian. It seems 
to me that if the minister of God's truth, instead of 

20 



complaining and finding fault with his congregation 
or his officiary for delinquency in financial matters, 
would stand out upon the promises of God and toach 
the people their duty in temporal affairs, it cannot 
fail to bring fruit. I say this because I believe that 
the average christian wants to do his Master's will, 
and will do it if lovingly dealt with, and because I 
believe that the success of any church depends large- 
ly upon the business sense of its pastor and leading 
members. I think a stated contract for the support 
of a minister as a matter of business, is all right, 
provided the minister's faith goes beyond that con- 
tract and centers in God for his temporal support; 
for if the contract fails for any reason and he has 
never learned to trust in God for his support, he finds 
himself with little faith for temporal matters, and if 
he does not become sour, he will grow discouraged 
and financial bondage is the result. In case of the 
failure of a contract for any reason, let the minister 
with a humble spirit call his officiary to the throne of 
grace, and with earnest supplication wait upon God 
with a willing heart to abide the result, and see how 
the Lord will inspire their hearts and help their 
weak hands. 

Two years during this period we served as pastor 
of country circuits. One circuit could promise no 
stipulated amount. Only two pledges of $20 each 
could be obtained. The parties for some reason 
never paid but $15 apiece. We did not suffer thereby. 
We took $1.00 out. of each $10, 10 cents out of each 
$1.00 and so on, that came into our hands during 
the year and bestowed it upon the poor or other be- 
nevolent objects, and by the blessing of God lived 
and paid a large part of our former indebtedness. 
Two ministers who at this time sought to discourage 

21 



me and made light of my trusting God for temporal 
supplies, have since come to grief. One has gone 
out of the ministry in poverty, and at last accounts 
had well nigh lost hope in Christ; the other has lost 
his property and bids fair to die in old age without 
a dollar. Probably the best year of our life in the 
ministry was spent at Elberton, Wash. It cost us 
our cow to get to our field of work. All our goods 
were in two trunks and two grips. The brethren 
agreed to pay us $300 if they could and more if they 
could, and furnish us a house. We had all our money 
with us — just $2.50 when we arrived. With a few 
boards we made a table, bedsteads and cupboard. 
One brother gave us a stove on salary, another a 
pony and another a cart and harness. We arrived 
on the grounds, at once began to speak of Christ 
and it seemed that "victory" was the watchword 
from the start. God gave a net increase of eighty- 
one members for the year, and instead of $300 salary 
we got about $450, *and instead of owing the store- 
keeper at end of the year, he owed us $7.50 and we 
had a bank account of $125. When we were preparing 
to go to this circuit, a letter from my brother Frank 
informed me that if ever I expected to see mother 
alive I should come home at once. I had not been 
home for six years. My first impression was to "go 
at any cost." The trip would cost at least $90. 
Recalling our consecration, that we was not to make 
decisions under pressure, or to take steps upon which 
we could not obtain clear light, the matter was taken 
to God in prayer. We went on with our preparations. 
I wrote my brother that I could not come, and that 
I believed mother would not die, but that I should 
yet see her. So after a year of glorious work for 
the Master, the money lay in the bank with which 

22 



to make the trip, my mother was still alive, and with 
a glad heart I was soon on the way to see her. 

The following fall we was stationed at Colfax, 
Wash., where the winter previous we had a glorious 
revival and organized a church. Plans were laid 
for a church and we had begun to collect money 
for the purpose. It seemed that we must suffer 
apparent defeat as well as have victories. The peo- 
ple became disheartened by the panic and the work 
came to a standstill. Two banks closed up business, 
and the best of men could not obtain money. Under 
advice of Presiding Elder I resigned. Nearly all 
my funds were gone. After giving my wife enough 
to take her home by rail, I had but a few dollars 
left. With a pony and cart, for which we could find 
no sale, I started to make a journey of nearly six 
hundred miles home. This journey was fairly strewn 
with mercies. The expenses of provisions for our 
kitchen and horse feed had to be met for about 
three weeks, besides the additional expense of a 
hundred miles by boat occasioned by the breaking 
and slush of the snows in the Cascade Mts., making 
it unsafe for us to cross at that time. The Lord 
kindly met these needs, though we told no one 
of our need or asked for help. We arrived home 
three weeks before our conference with $1.50 left. 



11 



THE VISION OF FAITH , 

CHAPTER III. 

What is faith? The Word tells us that "faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 
things not seen." This definition seems to be laid 
down as a general principle as the moving cause in 
the lives of those worthies recorded in the eleventh 
chapter of Hebrews. The careful reader will observe 
that in each instance of that unparalleled record of 
faith's victories and triumphs, the actor was called 
upon to believe in the manifestation of God's power 
in something external to himself, or in the exercise 
of faith, performed some external act. Taking Abra- 
ham's faith as the type of both Old and New Testa- 
ment faith, we have these two facts clearly set forth. 

1. There was opened to him a view or vision of 
God's purpose for the race. 

(Gen. 15 chapter.) He was called to look into the 
heavens and count the stars, and also to count the 
sands by the sea-shore, and being unable to number 
either, he was assured "So shall thy seed be." As 
he stood before God in wonder at such gracious mani- 
festations, it is written of him that "he believed 
God and it was counted to him for righteousness." 

2. The faith thus awakened in him by this open 
vision and the Spirit of God that revealed it, led him 
to act accordingly. Notice his subsequent act of 
consecration and waiting upon God. Notice how 
he watched away the birds from the sacrifice and 

24 



quitted not the spot even though the darkness settled 
upon him. Then notice in answer to this waiting 
faith che coming of the smoking furnace and the 
burning lamp. Paul's obedience to the heavenly 
vision is an exact parallel. In fact every instance in 
Scripture seems to warrant us in holding :1. That faith 
as "the substance of things hoped for" is the mani- 
festation of God's will either in vision as given of 
old or, as revealed in his Word in Christ and the 
promises of God to miem 2. That faith as "the evi- 
dence of things rot seen" is the trust of the human 
heart in the living God for the fulfillment of what 
God has revealed in Christ and his promises. Since 
the manifestation of Christ to the world and the 
completion of the Holy Scriptures, men no longer 
need "the vision" of old as an incentive to trust, 
for Christ is the fulfillment of all visions, types and 
shadows that preceded him. Of this fact God has 
"given assurance to all men in that he hath raised 
him from the dead." All the views of life possibie 
of divine fulfillment and all the promises of God 
center in him, and if the Scriptures teach any truth 
above another it is that Jesus who now sits enthroned 
at the right hand of the Father longs and earnestly 
desires to relive his life in his people. In this mani- 
fest desire of our gracious Lord and Master, men 
are not called upon to believe in fancies and fanatical 
visions, but to accept as possible of fulfillment what- 
ever God has promised. These promises of the liv- 
ing God contain the "substance" of all that is light 
and good for men to enjoy and possess. If the doubt- 
er questions this he has but to refer to the fact of 
God's faithfulness in the creation and sustenance of 
all nature, his gracious dealings with the penitent 
in all times past and his punishment of evil doers. 



Nations have risen at his word while others have 
fallen and are monuments in history declaring God's 
displeasure against sin. We can therefore see in 
the promises of God, revealed in his Word, the "sub- 
stance of all our hopes, even though they he to us 
unfulfilled for the time being, for God does not re- 
quire us to rest our hopes upon vagaries and vision- 
ary schemes. The true believer does not follow 
"cunningly devised fables" and is not called upon to 
believe as true that which is not true, but to accept 
from God that which is being true, and also his place 
in helping to bring it to pass. This doubtless was 
the meaning of our Lord's words, about Abraham, 
in his discussion with the Jews as to his divinity. 
"Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, 
and was glad." The promise of the Christ of the 
future for the world's salvation was so potent in 
heavenly blessing that Abraham upon the plains of 
Mamire "embraced it, and was persuaded of it" to 
such an extent that God accounted him righteous. 
In other words, he with others of the olden time 
found Christ in promise sufficient for their needs in 
enabling them to fill their place in God's plan for 
tho race. "Know ye therefore that they which are 
of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." 
"And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify 
the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel 
unto Abraham, saying in thee shall all nations be 
blessed." 

"That the blessing of Abraham might come on the 
Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive 
the promise of the Spirit through faith." 

You can read with profit the whole history of 
Abraham's faith. In so reading, you will notice that 
God's promise was the ground upon which his faith 

26 



rested. It appealed to his reason, for the God that 
made the countless stars and the sands innumerable 
on the sea-shore had announced it. It awakened 
his conscience, inspired his heart and convinced 
him of the necessity of action, for the same voice 
told him that its fulfillment was for the salvation of 
the world, not for his own personal benefit. "He 
believed God." He at once began to act. His faith 
was accounted to him for righteousness. Why? Be- 
cause a living faith has every essential element in 
it of all right conduct. Faith was the seed in his 
heart, of which his obedience was the stock and 
flower. Is it any wonder that the apostle James 
says: 

"But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith with- 
out works is dead?. Was not Abraham our father 
justified by works when he offered his son upon the 
altar? 

Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and 
by works was faith made perfect? 

And the Scriptures was fulfilled which saith, Abra- 
ham believed God and it was imputed into him for 
righteousness; and he was called the Friend of God." 

Notice a few points in James' inspired comment 
upon Abraham's life. 

1. Faith wrought with his works. 

2. By works was faith made perfect. 

3. The inevitable conclusion; perfect faith implies 
works accordingly. 

4 Abraham was accounted righteous on account 
of faith, but was called the friend of God because 
he obeyed God. 

So Jesus said to his believing desciples, "Ye are 
my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." 

It is to be feared that in these days of smoothe 

27 



preaching, too little stress is given this thought, if 
indeed, in many places it be given any attention at 
all, that the only proof to the world of faith in 
Christ, is in works of love and meekness for Jesus' 
sake. The farmer plants his seed in the soil, and 
if the blade does not in due time appear, he justly 
concludes that the seed is dead. He sowed poor 
seed. The preacher sows the gospel seed. Not all 
of it is lost. Some is sure to bring the desired har- 
vest. It may be that much apparent loss is due to 
the fact that the preacher has only preached his 
opinions. Paul's desire for Timothy was that he 
"preach the Word, be instant in season and out of 
season." Timothy was to give himself wholly to his 
ministry. Why? By so doing he would save him- 
self and them that hear him. Why place so much 
stress upon the Word of God, Paul? 

"We are born again by the word of God that liveth 
and abideth forever." Whoever heard of a soul being 
converted to Christ under the influence of a human 
message? Thousands have yielded to the claims 
of Christ and begun a new life by the simple preach- 
ing of the gospel by Spirit baptized lips Why? "It 
hath pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to 
save them that believe. 

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word 
of God." 

Brother, let us not expect any sort of message 
to produce conviction for sin and saving faith in 
the hearts of men. Have you sowed seed and realized 
no ingathering. Examine the kind of seed you sow. 
Test it in your own garden. Preach the sermons 
to yourself that you give to other folks. If these 
messages don't awaken your own stubborn,dull heart, 
how can you expect them to awaken the dead around 

28 



you? Does the Word of God grow in your own gar- 
den, "first the blade, then the ear, and full corn in 
the ear?" Does it burn in your own heart as a fire 
shut up in your bones? As you witness the sins of 
men, the awful ruin that awaits them except they 
repent; as you consider that for all these Jesus died 
that they might be saved, and saved now, how do 
these most serious truths affect your own heart? 
I have never known a minister to give himself to 
the consideration of these facts, to humble himself 
before God, among his people, but that sooner or 
later he has "seen of the travail of his soul and was 
satisfied." 

Our "vision of faith" is incomplete if we stop 
with our own personal salvation. Far too many of 
us are hunting for material with which to make tents 
and camp upon the summit of some individual exper- 
ience. How human we are! "Oh fools and slow of 
heart to believe all that the Scriptures hath spoken." 
Do you remember that hour of glorious manifest- 
ation when Jesus was transfigured before his dis- 
ciples? What a delightful vision! How full of rap- 
ture! How they longed to be forever in such a state 
of extreme delight! To be sure it was good for them 
to be there, else Jesus would not have permitted it. 
He expected Moses and Elias to visit him that day. 
What a meeting! In the presence of his disciples 
they talked with Jesus of the death he was to die 
at Jerusalem. What an honor to be in such Loly 
company! Do you wonder that they wanted to camp 
there? But notice how quickly the scene changes. 
The cloud disappears. Moses and Elias are gone. 
Now instead of the transfigured Christ with glori- 
fied visitors from the other world as guests they see 
no man but "Jesus only." This heavenly tableau 

29 



had one lesson above all others to impart Mountain 
top views have their place in our lives, but if all 
the children of God would shut themselves up to 
beholding these glories what would become of this 
old world? Christ at once returns to his life of ser- 
vice, thus demonstrating that the truest glory of 
human life is in service and not in what men call 
enjoyment. Jesus had not forgotten the prophecy 
passed upon Abraham, of which he was the fulfill- 
ment: "Thou shalt be a blessing." To bless, he 
must serve. Doubtless he often repeated to his dis- 
ciples, "He that would be great among you, let him 
be -servant of all." In other words, would not our 
Lord have us understand that all our visions of the 
right, all our views of truth all our ecstatic delights, 
all our aspirations and holy impulses avail nothing, 
if we fail to see "Jesus only." "Jesus only" stands as 
the completion of faith's vision, because he stands 
for service. "Jesus only" is love, love at work, love 
in action. It was no wonder that Paul desired his 
converts to "know the love of Christ which passeth 
knowledge," for love is life, life born into the human 
heart from God, and love is service. It is not strange 
that he declared "now abideth faith, hope and love; 
but the greatest of these is love" since love is the 
fulfillment of that for which faith contends and hope 
longs. 

From the very nature of things, we can never real- 
ize our hopes fully in this life, but the believer who 
is determined to please his Lord at any co»st, will be 
surprised, upon meeting the simple conditions of a 
life of faith and prayer, to find how there will come 
strength out of his weakness, and how Christ will 
many times suggest through his word by his Spirit, 
in times of great need, lessons of practical wisdom. 

30 



This life of prayer and trust, based upon the v/ord 
of God is capable of proof and practical application 
in any relation in which a christian may be called 
to serve, or in any business in which a christian 
may engage, or in any relation of the individual life. 
It must of necessity be so, for to live a prayerless 
life, which also implies a life without faith, in any 
relation is to live in sin. "Whatsoever is not of 
of faith is sin." The believer is not only "justified 
by faith" and "sanctified by faith," but "we walk by 
faith, not by sight." This certainly has a wider appli- 
cation to our condition here on eartn than to what 
is narrowly styled "the spiritual life," or "the inner 
life." It seems to me that great violence is done 
the word of God by interpreting it after the "piece- 
meal" fashion. We have sort a fallen into the habit 
of thinking that God is more interested in knowing 
that we are living a life of faith in our "inner life" 
than in our "outer life." What a sad mistake! The 
Words of our Lord are always addressed to man as 
man, and not to man as "inner" or "outer" or spirit 
or soul or body Every single utterance of the gos- 
pel is to man as a unit, one and indivisible. If this 
was not true, men could perchance find some shield 
in their own makeup, and the nature of the gospel 
appeals to hide the deformity of their lives. The 
sermon of Christ upon the Mount abounds in illus- 
trations of the power of this truth. This unit of 
human responsibility to God is strikingly referred to 
in such passages as the following: 

"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Where 
your treasure is there will your heart be also. If 
thy right hand, or foot or eye offend thee, remove 
them, for it is better to enter life with one eye or 
foot or hand, than have two to be cast into hell-fire. 



Cleanse first the inside of the cup that the outside 
may be clean also." I might go over with profit 
through the whole of the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of 
Matthew and show tnat equally as much stress is 
laid by Our Lord upon mante outward as upon his 
inner life. The attempt in our day to spiritualize, 
in a narrow subjective sense the plain words of 
Inspiration, is so marked in many places, that out- 
breaks of the worst religious fanaticism are its legit- 
imate fruits. On tne other hand, the rationalist sees 
in these precious promises of God only the shadowing 
of his own blind reasonings and practically rules 
God out of his life, and if religion is maintained at 
all, it is a mere form of Godliness without the power 
thereof. Take Christ's words as an illustration in 
reference to our life. "Take no thought (be 1 not 
anxious) for your life, saying, what shall we eat, 
or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be 
clothed?" How fanaticism has twisted that passage 
into warranting the most unreasonable neglect of 
personal and temporal interests, and how rational- 
ism, even in the church, has robbed it of its beauty 
and power in human life, and even announced its 
impracticability for present conditions in this world. 
A man once said to me/'If I was to obey that passage, 
I would come to want. My family would starve. I 
would have nothing to feed you preachers on." Poor 
fellow! Doubters and blind guides had doubtless 
heen his teachers. I said, my good fellow, you are 
■entirely mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures 
or the power of God. You obey that passage in the 
sense intended as shown by the connection in which 
it occurs, and you have an assurance of plenty for 
two worlds that is better than a policy in all the 
insurance companies on earth. Let us examine it 



a moment. Christ's sermon on the Mount was given 
primarily to his disciples, as shown by Matt. 5: 1. 
And no man without the spirit of loyalty to Jesus 
can understand much herein written. It is a mes- 
sage distinctively to beleivers. What is the state 
of a believer Scripturally considered? Paul says: 
"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet 
not I, but Christ liveth in me." Again, "ye are dead, 
and your life is hid with Christ in God." Peter says: 
"We have forsaken all to follow you, what shall we 
have therefore?" Every word of Jesus spoken to his 
disciples was upon the supposition that they had 
died, that their old life wais gone, that their former 
occupations for selfish purposes had been given up 
and that they were seeking a new life, with new 
employments, for new purposes. What was the use 
of their being concerned about that which they had 
thought so little of as to give up and cast away? 
Their occupation henceforth was to "Seek first the 
Kingdom of God and his righteous," and in pursuing 
their new avocation, "all these things" that they 
had formerly gotten by worry, care, anxiety and their 
own labor," will be added unto you." Notice the force 
of Christ's promise. "No man hath forsaken father 
or mother, house and lands, son or daughter for 
my sake and the gospel, but shall receive in this 
life one hundred fold, and in the end everlasting 
life." But my friend said, you are now talking for 
a preacher. I am a farmer. How can that passage 
apply to me? Precisely as it does to the preacher, 
though the relation to material things is different. 
It altogether hinges on whether you farm for your- 
self or for the Lord. Make the purpose of your farm 
life the "same as the purpose of your heart life. As 
you have allowed Christ to come into your heart, 

33 



allow him to set up business on your farm. Then 
you will see the force and application of the word, 
"Take no thought for your life" or your farm, or 
your business, or your anything else. If you let 
Christ control your farm, as you hope and desire 
he does your hear, the first fact that faces you 
is that you are not its owner. The true owner 
and the one who furnishes all the capital with which 
you do business is now in authority. You are a 
tenant. Your sole business lis not to "take thought 
for yourself," not to worry, or fret, or stew about 
crops, but to please Him for whom you labor. Try 
it, my brother, and see if you are not a richer man 
spiritually, and more blessed of God temporally. 



34 



BEGINNING COLLEGE WORK. 



CHAPTER IV. 

VvThen the Board of Trustees, in June 1896, elected 
me Business Manager of Philomath College, I had 
little serious thought of accepting it; but as it came 
to me entirely unsought, I felt I could not turn it 
aside without due consideration. I considered the 
matter carefully and prayerfully for five or six 
months. The constant strain upon my nerves after 
ten years active work, three years and three months 
of which was spent upon the conference district as 
Presiding Elder, had wrought such conditions in my 
health as to determine mte to refuse any longer to 
serve in that capacity, although by conference time 
I was not fully decided as to taking up the college 
work. The way did not seem clear. The vision of the 
Lord was not yet manifest as to what duty was. In 
this state of indecision I began the year 1896-97 in 
evangelistic labor, and helped some of the brethren 
in some successful meetings. My father had come 
to live with us in 1895, and during my absence from 
home early in 1896 it pleased God to have mercy 
upon him and convert him. My wife and a young 
lady who was stopping with her at the time was 
led to make him a special object of prayer, and one 
day fasted and prayed for him, with the result that 
he was touched by the Holy Spirit and yielded to 
Christ and was saved. He only lived about thirteen 

35 



months after his conversion. Three weeks after my 
return home from an evangelistic trip, on Feb. 3, 
1897 he died. His health had been poor for many 
months. At this time I was preparing to accompany 
him home to Indiana, as he earnestly desired to see 
the rest of his children before he died. This privil- 
ege was denied him, for the Master came quickly 
and relieved him of suffering and took him home. 
On Feb. 10 I started with his corpse to Indiana for 
burial. I note here an occurrence of divine mercy 
I shall never forget. I do not want the reader to 
think a life of faith leads to carelessness, on the 
contrary, it leads to the greatest care. My trans- 
portation had been provided for to St. Paul and Chi- 
cago. Upon arrival in Portland I failed to get to 
see the Wisconsin Central agent who was to issue 
my ticket from St. Paul to Chicago, but being assured 
by a friend that he would look after the matter and 
see that transportation was telegraphed me at St. 
Paul upon my arrival, and as it took nearly four days 
to reach St. Paul, I started in full confidence that 
no mishap would occur. What was my chagrin when 
arriving at St. Paul to find that no instructions had 
been received there and as it was after office hours 
at the general railroad offices, I could not obtain 
any favors as a minister, and as the train would 
leave for Chicago in a short time, bearing my 
father's corpse to Huntington, Ind., where my 
friends were in waiting, you may imagine my sit- 
uation, a stranger in a *strangei city, and not enough 
money to purchase a ticket to my destination. Had 
I not found my Heavenly Father a helper in other 
circumstances of a similar character, I should have 
been distressed indeed. Seeking as quiet a opot 
as could be found in a Union Depot, I poured out my 

36 



heart to God in prayer. I asked the Lord to look 
upon my condition, and as this disappointment was 
no fault of mine, I prayed that he would be pleased 
to use it as an occasion to strengthen my faith, by 
moving the heart of some one in my behalf. My 
heart was filled with great peace and rest. I left my 
retreat and started again to the telegraph office to 
see if any instructions had been received, and find- 
ing none was turning away and my attention was 
drawn to a gentleman with grip in hand, going to 
a train. The thought sprang into my mind, "That 
man will help you." I conferred not with flesh and 
blood. I at once approached him and stated briefly 
my need. He dropped his grip, saying, "I never did 
such a thing before, but I will risk it," and loaned 
me the money needed. I took his name and address, 
shock his hand with a "God bless you" and was 
on my train in a few minutes. Thus the Lord, in 
answer to prayer, had given me favor in the eyes of 
a stranger and my journey was not hindered. 

Often during the busy rush of the past ten years 
had I longed for more time to pray. Now it had come. 
Immediately following my father's funeral, I was 
taken with La Grippe, which was not finally broken 
for more than seven weeks. Much of this time I 
was entirely unfit for any active* work, and im- 
proved the time as betet I could in meditation and 
prayer and study of the Word of God. My heart 
hungered to know more of God, and especially his 
will relating to my taking up the college work. I 
had a great aversion to financial work as it is usually 
expected to be carried in such cases. It seemed to 
me that I had no adaptation to such work and could 
not succeed in it. I felt that I never could under- 
take to get money for the Lord's cause as some per- 

37 



sons obtained it, and that if I entered upon the work 
and did not meet the general expectation of those 
concerned in it, however honestly and hard I labored 
I would be subjected to much criticism thereby. 
These and other ^similar reasons were urged by my- 
self as reasons why I should not take up the work 
for the college. It seemed to me that the Christian 
College of which this was a small illustration, was 
neglecting the class of youth most needing help, 
perhaps not wilfully, but all the same actually neg- 
lecting the sons and daughters of the poor and very 
poor. I knew too well what that meant by my own 
experience. If I should take hold of this work and 
succeed in liquidating the debt and helping the school 
on its feet would "the poor have a share in it?" I 
had never seen a christian college, or at that time 
had any personal knowledge of one in which there 
existed any permanent provision, by labor or other- 
wise, whereby this most needy clalss of youth could 
be trained or be given a chance to help themselves 
to a fitness for life. Then I observed that the finan- 
cial embarrassment in these colleges waJs largely 
due to expenditures being more than the income 
would reasonably warrant, hence large indebtedness 
accrued as a result, and Philomath College was not 
the exception. I considered further that it meant 
a great risk upon me personally. The institution at 
this time had a considerable debt, had run down 
in attendance, was greatly in need of repairs and 
more room and equipment, and I could not see how 
it could guarantee me a dollar of salary. During my 
services as presiding elder for three years and more 
previously, my (support had come without any special 
exercise of faith, and faith at this time in this par- 
ticular relation, because of unuse, was not as strong 

38 



as formerly. Not only must the college debt be raised, 
but we simply could not hope to build up the attend- 
ance without more and better equipment in room, 
apparatus and repairs. This would mean that from 
sources entirely outside of the regular income of 
the school, all these funds must come, as also funds 
for my own support and that of my family. I was 
now counting the cost. The battle before me, if 
undertaken, was a real one. There was no shadow, 
symbol or metaphor about it. However, as I brought 
the matter time and again before the Lord, it 
seemed to me that all His former acts of faithfulness 
came up before me as troops of witnesses to strength- 
en and encourage faith. Finally, the thought was 
deeply impressed upon my mind, "why not test the 
power of God to help in this hour of the school's 
need?" The "why not" settled it. I decided then 
and there to take up the work if the board of trustees 
at its coming annual session would adapt a plan to 
guard against future indebtedness, and place the 
school on its current income. But aside from any 
present need of the school, the thing that most in- 
fluenced my decision was the hope born of faith 
and prayer and a sense of my own loss, that an arm 
of help might be connected with the school as a 
means of aiding worthy young men and women in 
pursuing successfully to its close a course of train- 
ing. This seemed possible to me on the basis of 
faith in God and a system of industry. I have since 
visited a school in another part of our country upon 
the same basis that is greatly blessed of God in this 
very line of work, though at the time of which I 
now speak I had no personal knowledge of such a 
school. It seems to me that the church is largely 
missing its purpose and work by neglecting the poor. 

59 



If higher education is a work of the church, then 
certainly the isons and daughters of the poor are as 
much entitled to it as the rich. We have been made 
aware of the fact that even in the church such 
ideas do not grew rapidly. Nevertheless, we entered 
the work, gave ourself definitely to a purpose, not 
knowing how long it would take or how great the 
difficulties were ahead of us. Had we expected to 
succed a- ethers, we surely would have failed. We 
had no business ability, smartness or cunning that 
we dare to bank on. With a somewhat indistinct 
sen/se as to duty, and with a determination to take 
no step upon which we could not ask God's blessing 
to rest, the battle was begun. Recovering sufficient- 
ly fromi La Grippe to be able to travel, I first attended 
a Young Peoplei's District Convention, and although 
it was found convenient to use me by program com- 
mittee on two or three vacant numbers, I was not 
given the privilege of 10 or 15 minutes when it was 
desired in which to explain to the convention the 
nature of my work, though I did not expect or ask 
for a collection. My next opportunity of a public 
character was to fill the pulpit for a pastor by in- 
vitation, which I did to the beist of my ability, but I 
was slyly denied the privilege of a free will offering 
for my work from his congregation, though I had 
gone at his invitation to preach for him at some ex- 
pense to myself. The Lord did not allow me to go 
away entirely empty-handed, however. One young 
man was blessed and gave mte the gratitude of his 
heart in a (substantial "free will offering." I thought 
then, and still think, that such acts of smallness are 
perilously near "putting a muzzle on the ox that 
treadeth out the corn." But as I was trusting God 
for succetes, I naturally expected to meet some trials 

40 



of this sort. Almost every man I would meet had 
some queer look on his face when it became known 
to him that I was East in the interest of a school. 
How I had to in silence listen to speeches about like 
this: "We are not able to pay our preacher a living 
salary;" "The church has more schools than she can 
support;" "I have not paid my taxes yet this year;" 
"The church has >sent now more money out west than 
she will ever get back;" "If your school was near 
by me, I would help it." I found on the whole that 
human nature was a queer sort of thing, but none 
of these things moved me. I had put out my fleece. 
It lay on & very dry spot of ground. I wanted not 
only drew up the fleece, but also upon the ground, 
and I expected to get both in spite of doubt and the 
devil. 

I headed my course for Dayton. LotJs of folks 
said, "no use to go to Dayton. Everybody canvasses 
Dayton." But I was not going there to canvass Day- 
ton. I might do that some other time, but this time 
I was too weak and sick. I was just going down 
to see the town, to see the brethern; to see the 
Publishing House. That's all. Oh, how many 1 rat- 
ings of unbelievers were thrown in my way! Gods' 
ways are not our ways, and hi's thoughts are not 
our thoughts. In the very beginning I found the 
question, "what would Jesus have you do?" to be all 
sufficient. I relate the following somewhat in full 
to show how God works when we trust him. A num- 
ber of persons had told me Bro. could help 

me if he would, but he had so many calls, that it 
was doubtful if he would be interested at all in my 

work. I made up my mind not to ask Bro. for 

help. I told the Lord if, in view of these things 
he wanted Bro. to help the work I was engaged 

41 



in, to cpen the way to it. I met him twice unexpected- 
ly, but wals too busy at the time to talk with him. 
The third time I met him in the Missionary Treasu- 
rer's office. About the following conversation took 
place between Bro. and myself. 

"Say, Parker, what are you doing out there, any- 
way? You seem awful busy around here." 

Trying to serve the Lord. 

"How are you getting on with your school out 
there in Oregon? I've had my eye on you. I've 
watched you all I could through the Telescope." 

We are doing the best we know how with our little 
sense and small means. Here followed a brief state- 
ment of my plan of work and what I was trying to 
da 

"What do you want me to do for you, any way." 

I would rather you would answer the question, 
what does the Lord want you to do? 

"Will twenty-five dollars help you any?" 

Yes, every little helps, but I don't know what you 
ought to do. 

"Will fifty dollars do you any good?" 

Yes, every little helps, but my brother, you ought to 
know enough about your Lord's will in the use of 
money entrusted to your care to know how to dispose 
if it without asking me about it. The question is, what 
does Jesus want you to do? I might let you off very 
easy, whereas Christ would desire you to do more, 
or I might ask more than your Lord would have you 
give. Don't ask me, a>sk your Lord. If he don't want 
you to give, I don't want any of your money. 

Whereupon he gave me, I suppose, all the cash he 
had with him, $125, with a promise to send me a 
check for $75 more by a certain date. I thought of 
Abraham's prayer when asking for Sodom. When 

42 



Abraham limited God, negotiations stopped. I named 
no amount, put no limit on him or God's will con- 
cerning him. 

Here was dew on my fleece, and the mist began to 
arise from the sea, a cloud the size of a man's hand 
that would soon moisten the ground. The fruitage 
of faith seemed in the near distance. Jacob like, 
I rejoiced "when I isaw the wagons" coming full of 
corn. Time and again has the Lord drawn upon this 
dear brother to the total amount of about $1 500 
In every instance his offerings have been connected 
with special times of want, this showing that when 
a man gives in the Lord he never gives amiss. His 
heart was also opened to our personal needs in sums 
of which he desired no mention to be made. As he 
has since departed to be with his Lord, he is doubt- 
less enjoying the fruits of his labors that do follow 
him. With a glad heart we left Dayton to journey 
north to fill some engagements previously arranged. 
While the sum realized during these few weeks was 
not large, we was so encouraged in spirit by the 
way the hand of the Lord had been manifest, that 
we returned home in June following the general 
conference of 1897 fully determined to devote an- 
other year to the work, should the board of trustees 
approve of the plans under which we expected to 
operata 

A brief outline of the principles of our plan of 
work, as we saw it at this time will doubtless be of 
interest to the reader, and aid in understanding more 
fully what follows. One thought was uppermost in 
our mind. We desired above everything else that 
God might be glorified and his truth honored. 

1. Our first object was to pay off the old debt as 
rapidly as possible, and at the same time neglect 

43 



no vital interest relative to the progress of the 
school. 

2. As a matter of conscience, :n harmony we 
believed with the word of God, we did not expect to 
solicit aid from the ungodly, believing that there was 
ample funds among God's people to meet the needs 
of the work in hand. This has been adhered to, so 
far as we have had knowledge, until this day. How- 
ever, we have not refused gifts voluntarily made by 
persons who were not christians. Several dollars 
have come in in this way from people not religious. 

3. As far as possible, we desired to conduct this 
business in connection with our ministry of the 
word, and while we expected constantly to keep 
prominent our financial mission, we were unwilling 
to make that the chief work, lest we become rusty 
in the ministry of the word and become a mere 
servant of tables. 

4. We desired to so labor in obtaining funds that 
our mission would become neither irksome to us, nor 
distasteful to the people of God among whom we 
should labor, and above all did we desire that the 
giving of money by the people should be made to 
them a means of grace. 

5. We did not expect to use "leverage" or "pres- 
sure'' of any kind to induce persons to give, other 
than the Lord would be pleased to have used by 
his word and Spirit. Our one great aim was to 
cause men to see the needis of the work and leave 
the matter wholly with thetai, thus throwing the 
responsibility where it belonged, upon the individ- 
ual conscience. We expected to keep prominent 
the ideas of christian stewardship. 

6. We determined to make no> man's gift more 
prominent than another, as for instance, the publish- 

44 



ing abroad by mouth or press the larger gifts as an 
inducement to get others to give largely or for any 
other reason. This will account for the fact in part 
that in our printed reports only the gross amounts 
are given, and not the names of individual donors. 
If we publish one, we would have to publish all, 
and this was hardly possible with the hundreds of 
people who gave in a single year. 

7. Every name of a donor, so far as could be ob- 
tained was to be recorded whether he gave one cent 
or one hundred dollars, with the amount of donation 
to his credit. 

8. Where funds would be given for purposes other 
than to apply on the debt, we determined to carry 
out to the letter the will of the donor. 

We knew such a method of procedure might take 
longer sometimes to win, and with some people 
would not be in favor, but our chief concern was 
to keep on good terms with the head of the firm, 
our Lord Jesus, our chief partner. "The cattle on 
a thousand hills are his," as also '"the gold and sil- 
ver." We had elected him as our patron, and unless 
we were greatly mistaken, these principles were 
sufficient upon which to base a plan of work. 



45 



WORKING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. 



CHAPTER V. 

The board of trustees in regular session June 1897 
canvassed the ground quite thoroughly and seemed 
glad for something new to happen. Some were hope- 
ful-, though others expressed featfs of the result. As 
one item of the plan made the faculty's compensation 
to consist solely of the income from regular interest 
on a small endowment and tuition fees and such 
contributionis as might be given for the purpose, 
minus expenses of running the school for the year, 
it was feared that a faculty could not be obtained 
upon such conditions. The general sentiment was 
in favor of a change and the new plans were unani- 
mously adopted. Prof. J. M. C. Miller was elected 
President, and Henry Sheak was reelected Professor 
of Natural Sciences. These two with myself con- 
stituted a sort of triumvirate to whom was commit- 
ted the entire management of the school for one year 
under certain restrictions, with authority to supply 
other needed teachers, also to pay them, and in fact 
do about as we pleased. I was to devote my time 
to getting money, working with my head at plans 
and with my hands to realize them if no one else 
could be induced to help, or if funds were not forth- 
coming with which to pay for some much needed 
labor, I was to have the privilege to call on the Presi- 
dent and his colleagues to help mie out. The general 

46 



financial condition of the country was such as to 
make it anything but promising in the obtaining of 
funds. We took a glance at the resources and found 
that to live and maintain a creditable teaching force, 
a vigorous canvass would have to be made for stu- 
dents. To do this meant quick work. We also must 
renovate the old Dormitory, which had been unused 
for a time, and build a small building for additional 
recitation room. I never saw men labor harder to 
win than these professors. The student canvass 
was made early in the season. By the tenth of 
August we had a prospective list of about one hun- 
dred and fifty students. I say "we," because we all 
dropped everything and canvassed. Then we tack- 
led the old Dormitory. We had to rebuild flues, cloth 
and paper and repaint inside. As we were saving 
all money possible to put up a new building for reci- 
tation rooms, we turned mechanics ourselves. I 
had in my pilgrimage found it necessary sometimes 
to prove my faith by my work, and happened to 
know a little more than the President about how to 
use a trowel. The old flues had to come down. They 
were unsafe. The President was a mathematician, 
and had to have everything demonstrated I argued 
that there was no use tearing down the flues, but 
we would build up underneath them from the rooms 
below and (save both time and labor. This he said 
never could be done. No use to try to convince his 
mathematical mind that a man could build on the 
lower end of a flue and get a good job. My next 
offer was that I would build up the flues if he would 
tear down the old ones, clean the brick and wait 
on me, which as the Irishman understood was noth- 
ing more than packing brick and mortar up on top, 
while the man up there did the work. I found the 

47 



President made a first rate waiter. But after two 
flues had been torn down and rebuilt, he was quite 
willing to try the experiment of "building on the 
wrong end" of the remaining ones. After about a 
month's work the old hall was remodeled, repapered 
and painted and cleaned inside, and the college reci- 
tation rooms treated likewise. This was all gratis 
work, as we were saving our money for material 
for the new building. 

About this time my purse was getting pretty lank. 
The week we had set to rebuild the flues in the hall, 
a gentlemian came to me and wanted me to do a 
like job for him in his new house, which would take 
about five day's work. I confess for a moment it 
was a real temptation for me to jump the job. The 
President said, "I don't see how you can afford to 
stay here and work with such a chance as that to 
meet your wants, and yet I don't see how we can do 
without these flues being built, and we can't do it 
next weak." I kept at the Lord's work, for such I 
thought the building of those flueis then was. By 
Saturday noon the job was completed. Afternoon 
I started out to solicit more funds for our new 
building, expecting to reach a camp meeting by even- 
ing, where I was to aissist in preaching on Sabbath. 
One brother that I solicited said, "I won't give you 
anything for the college, but I will give you some 
personal help," and gave me exactly the amount that 
my work for the week would have comie to had I 
gone and built flues for another man. How good 
the Lord is! "Son, go work in my vineyard, and 
whatsoever is right I will pay thee." 

We had counted on getting about one hundred 
students out of the one hundred and fifty prospective 
ones. We v/ere not disappointed, for as I now re- 

48 



member one hundred and one enrolled for the year. 
With the opening of school, having secured the 
lumber on the ground, the new building for added 
recitation room was begun. It was not very preten- 
tious, but was to be made well so as to be added to 
if need be for future emergencies. As no funds were 
in hand to pay for labor, the faculty had agreed that 
if I would boss the job and guarantee good workman- 
ship, I could work student labor on the building and 
>hey would donate it, providing no work was given 
to students who were able to pay their way. This 
was agreed to. The building was almost entirely 
put up by student labor, and inexperienced labor 
at that The fall was exceptionally fine for work out 
doors and with a gang of hardy rustics who were 
more than glad to earn their tuition with saw and 
hammer, we soon had everything under cover, and 
could finish rain or tshine. Some of this same crowd 
of young men have since graduated and are doing 
good service for the Lord in filling places of trust 
as christian gentlemen. The year was quite as suc- 
cessful as could be expected under the conditions, 
and closed with a hopeful outlook for the future. 
The sacrifices made by the faculty were great, but 
they did not murmur, and was ready to undertake 
another year under the same conditions. So far 
our plans had worked. No new debts had been made, 
the old debt had been somewhat reduced, and some- 
thing had been done in adding rooms in which to 
work and what we had already had undergone a 
general overhauling and cleaning, this work extend- 
ing to the campus and things generally. We had 
also added to the equipment of the laboratory and 
library. 

We will have space for only a faw instances of 

49 



special mercies during this year. While the income 
to our faculty was very small and did not seem any 
adequate compensation for the work performed, it 
was done with a ready, willing mind. This fact in 
itself was a token of special goodness, for the Lord 
seeemed to inspire all hearts with the idea of render- 
ing service for a high and noble purpose. The prime 
motive was not how much salary could be obtained, 
but how much service could be renderedv How often 
we forget as we behold the great progress and 
material growth with other lines of development 
made by some of the older churehefs and institutions 
of our country, that the true foundations of these 
beautiful superstructures were laid in sacrifice and 
tears by those who sowed that others might reap. 
It was a question to know what to do with our 
dormitory to obtain the best results. We regard 
as another special mercy, that our dear Sister Brad- 
ford, a woman of experience and piety was led to 
offer her services to Christ as Matron of the dormi- 
tory, to accept isuch compensation as the Lord was 
pleased to provide. Thus were the students who 
roomed and boarded there, brought under the in- 
fluences of a home, rather than a mere place to 
board. The spirit of the year throughout, was that 
of harmony and victory even though laboring as 
we must under many disadvantages. Many times 
faith and courage ;seemed taxed, but there was not 
for an hour, anything like a pull back spirit. Pass- 
ing this brief notice of life in the school, the readers 
attention is now called to some of our business per- 
plexities. 

The country was groaning under the weight of 
the results of the panic. Every man to whom the 
college owed a cent wanted money, and people who 

5o 



owed the college had little to pay with. Here was 
a phase of matters entirely new to me. as in my for- 
mer life I had never come in touch with such experi- 
ences. I never prayed more earnestly in my life 
for wisdom than during these days. One thing I hoped 
for was to inspire confidence in our creditors in the 
new order of things if nothing more. One note was 
soon to out-law on account of no payment having 
been made on it for nearly six years. How glad 
I felt to have some money on hand to make a small 
payment when the party called to inquire about it. 
The $200 received from the brother mentioned in 
a former chapter was turned at once every cent of 
it, not even excepting the commission due me, 
en obligations due two parties. So glad was they 
to receive the money that they volunteered donations 
that were credited to the college amounting to $45. 
I reported the disposition of this money with the 
result above noted to the party who had given it, 
and in a short time received from him another check 
for a hundred dollars. Thus was faith and courage 
strengthened as this hundred was applied to whittle 
down the old debt. This work the Lord was carry- 
ing on while I was soliciting monoy for our Lew 
building and other purposes, and helping in the can- 
vass for students. As I have been enabled to 
wait on God in prayer and faith, all the while be- 
ing busy at work, the Lord has done more through 
means of his choosing than I have been able to do 
with all my work. Notice the following. On one of 
the largest notes against the college the annual inter- 
est would be due September 10 of this year. I did 
not sit down and expect the Lord to meet that inter- 
est, while I did nothing. I never had that notion of 
faith. Every possible turn was made to get the 

5i 



money, so as to have it ready when time for payment 
came. I worked as if there was no God to trust. 
On the other hand I was praying and trying to irust 
God as if I had no hands to work. But it seemed 
as if the Lord was determined to try my faith and 
patience more and more. It seemed as if money 
would not ccme. The 9th of September came, and 
with it a note from our creditor stating that he 
would expect his interest the following week. All 
day Sunday I laid the matter before the Lord. Some- 
how, I became restful over the matter. The Lord had 
it already provided for. On Monday in the mail came 
a check from a brother, covering the amount needed, 
to be used where most needed. I had not heard 
from this man for months, and he had no knowledge 
of any special need, iso far as I knew, as it had been 
more than two months since he had any communi- 
cation from me, and I had never intimated to him 
this or any other special need. The Lord was evi- 
dently determined to have the glory, while I was to 
be benefitted by the blessings of hard work and a 
strengthening faith. "Thanks be to God that giveth 
uk the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" "All 
the promises of God are in Him yea, and amen, to 
the glory of God by us." I sent the gentleman at 
once the interest due him, told him how I had worked 
to meet the claim, and how the Lord had graciously 
came to the rescue, and how I had received the 
check. I reminded him of the fact that we were 
paying him too much interest, and asked him to 
kindly let us take up his note, then bearing 10 per 
cent, and islsue him another bearing eight per cent, 
and give us five years time with the privilege of 
paying when we likea before that time expired. This 
he at once consented to, and the notes were at cnce 

52 



exchanged. I will state here, lest I forget it, that 
during the struggle to pay off the college debt I 
never borrowed a cent to meet an obligation of inter- 
est when due, or for any other purpose for college 
claims. The money wais cither in hand when desired 
or the creditors gave the interest or obligation. All 
this, in view of the fact of the great financial strin- 
gency of the time, I regard as a special mercy of 
Our Heavenly Father. I do not desire for one minute 
to have it thought that I raised the money for these 
purposes by my financial ability or (skill. Far from 
it. My service in the matter is not to be taken into 
account in comparison to "what God hath wrought " 
In fact I have performed nothing worthy of mention, 
and would never undertake this record, but for the 
hope that others might be encouraged to trust God 
in times of need. 

The summer of 1898 was partly spent in canvassing 
for students and funds, and partly in directing 
improvement work about the college. With the pros- 
pect for an increased attendance it became apparent 
that more room would be needed, and the funds nec- 
essary to meet this expense was provided before a 
lick was struck in erection. By the generosity of the 
faculty in allowing me to use the labor of students 
without means, we put on an additional room to the 
building erected the year before, thus greatly facili- 
tating the clasis room service. This building, with 
both rooms thrown together, is now used as quarters 
for the Commercial Department of the college. Dur- 
ing this entire summer I was engaged in work for the 
college, one way and another, except a small part 
of my time in working our garden at home. The 
only compensation received from the college for my 
labor or time was $25.00 for labor performed in di- 

53 



reeling the students in the work of improvement. 
Do you ask how we lived? In one way and another 
the Lord, through answer to prayer, provided for us, 
and that without telling our needs to anyone else 
but Him. 

Before the opening of school it seemed clear that, 
as affairs were fairly well in shape for the year's 
school work, that we »should take a trip East for 
another pull on the debt. Finances were short. I 
tried to sell some things belonging to us that we 
could get on without. Failing in this it was made 
plain that I might borrow a small sum, as our home 
was unencumbered, and should we not live the debt 
could easily be met out of my personal effects, and 
no one be inconvenienced or suffer loss. Seventy-five 
dollars were obtained in this way, upon personal 
note. This is the only instance in borrowing money 
during the year' ! s struggle to pay up the college debt, 
and this was mostly used in expenses of travel, 
though I borrowed it purely as a personal affair. 
However, it was paid in due time, to the glory of God. 
be it said. As preparations went on for this trip, my 
wife being in poor health, I finally determined not to 
go alone. It seemed to me the sacrifice upon her 
part was too great. I felt it to be wrong to ask her 
to remain at home during my absence of nine months, 
with the care of home and child. But we had gone 
to our limit. I could not borrow another cent beyond 
what could conveniently be gotten out of my per- 
sonal effects, and that amount had already been se- 
cured in the seventy-five dollars above referred to, I 
could not ask her to invole our home, as I might be 
taken away, and she suffer thereby. I could not draw 
on a single dollar of college funds to meet this need, 
though at this time I had in possession a good Jeal 

54 



more of certain college funds than would have served 
our needs, and might have taken the risk and had I 
succeeded in replacing it no one would have been the 
wiser for it. Do you ask why I would face such re- 
sponsibilities and such risks, and not use money al- 
ready in hand? I did not believe I was under any 
obligation even to temporarily divert funds in trust, 
or use them when at any time they might be called 
for in their intended place. I have a rich Father and 
a rich Elder Brother. They were my partners in this 
business. I believed if I was faithful in that which 
belonged to another, my partners would supply all 
my n3ed according to their riches in glory. Prayer 
was made unceasingly to God for the money needed 
to meet the added expense of taking my wife and 
child on a journey of nine months' absence from 
home. Believing that God would do right, that He 
is best known and revealed to men by His acts in 
fulfilling His promises, these precious promises TTr ere 
plead in the name of Jesus to supply our need. As 
we were professing to live a life of faith, and claim- 
ing that God would hear prayer and answer, we could 
not even hint to a soul that we lacked anything. This 
exercise of prayer and trust went on for some weeks, 
during which time my wife was preparing in every 
way possible for the trip. I was seeking to arrange 
college and personal affairs to get off as early as 
passible, and also watching for an opportunity to 
make some turn by which I could, in a Christian way, 
make the money we needed, but ail the while looking 
to God for help. I had seldom before relied upon that 
promise of our Lord as at this time: "When thou 
prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou Last 
shut the doc*-, pray to thy Father which is in secret; 
and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward 

55 



thee openly." For weeks wo were in the closet, and 
the door was shut. We had no one to blame if the 
money did not come. Our cry was of heaven. We 
expected an answer "openly." Did it come? The 
chariot was on the way while we were yet in the 
closet. I received just a few days before we were to 
start a letter from a servant of Christ enclosing a 
check more than covering cur immediate need, with 
the remarkable statement, "this is for your wife." I 
had had no communication with this person for 
months; he had no knowledge of our intended trip, 
or of any need upon our part And it is my firm con- 
viction that had we prayed as earnestly and beliov- 
ingly before as in this last instance, I need not have 
borrowed the seventy-five dollars above referred to. 
My brother and sister, when you go to God in secret 
prayer, don't forget to shut the door. Don't leave be^ 
hind you the possibility of a retreat. If the Holy 
Spirit leads you through the promise of His word into 
the secret closet of intercession, shut the door behind 
you, and stay there until the answer comes. Don't 
be discouraged because of delay in answer. Hab. 
2:3-4 may help your struggling faith: "For the vision 
is yet i'or an appointed time, but at the end it shall 
speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; be- 
cause it will (surely come, and will not tarry. Behold, 
his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him; but 
the just shall live by his faith." If we carry all our 
burdens to 1 God in secret, using in the meantime ruch 
means as are right before Him in our service for 
Him, we may not only expect God's richest and 
choicest blessings to rest upon our endeavors in the 
so-called routine work of life, but when the wisest 
plans iseem to fail, we may expect and look for God in 
times of special eea to repeat his wondrous acts of 



old. He is still Jehovah — Jireh. But don't forget to 
shut the door behind you when you enter the secret 
closet. If when you have met all known conditions, 
and God is not pleased to come to your help through 
the ordinary means of relief, and you are driven into 
the secret place" for help, and fail to "shut the 
door," do not be disappointed if an answer to your 
prayer never comes. God cannot honor the faith that 
goes to him even in secret, and leaves behind it a 
door through which to beat a retreat in case of fail- 
ure. In fact such is not faith at all. Faith sees be- 
yond failure; in fact it never learned how to cpell 
that word, much less to know its meaning. No one 
can read the campaigns of General Grant without be- 
ing impressed with the thought that, while he mani- 
fested the highest military skill in planning his work, 
he never planned for a retreat. Who will say that 
the power of faith here was not as signally displayed 
in its recognition of the God of battles as ever was 
known to Joshua and Moses, though manifest differ- 
ently; and who will say that there was less at stake 
of blessing to the world? The faith of the Syro- 
Phonecian woman stands as the most striking ilhJs- 
tration in New Testament Scripture. With her ban- 
ner upon which was inscribed in tears the cry, "Lord 
help me," she mounted the summit of every difficulty, 
and in deepest humility won from our preciouis Lord 
the commendation, "Woman, great is thy faith. I 
have not found such faith in Israel. Be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt." Here low became high, and the 
will of the woman became the rule by which oven 
the Almighty Christ chose to work. My brother and 
sister, don't allow anything to prevent you from car- 
rying everything to God in prayer, and when once 
your petition is before Him, don't be discouraged if 
the answer does not come by return mail. If you 

57 



can't afford to wait until your impatience and unbe- 
lief is killed out, think it not strange if the answer 
never comes. "Wait, I say, on the Lord." 

Early in September of this year we were on the 
way East. After a few days' visit with friends the 
canvass began with the session of St. Joseph confer- 
ence, presided over by Bishop Castle. The encour- 
agreement received here at this conference seemed 
to betoken victory, and from here I began a pilgrim- 
age that took me to the sessions of North Ohio, Lower 
Wabash, Sandusky, East Ohio and Ohio German tin's 
fall, and in the following spring attended the ses- 
sions of the Pennsylvania conference. As a result of 
this year's work, including a constant canvass during 
the winter, we returned home with the amount of 
over $1350. We were entitled to a liberal commission 
on this sum, as the board of trustees had so ordered 
that traveling expenses be met out of collections, and 
I be given a commission besides. But the Lord had 
so graciously provided for us in answer to prayer, by 
moving on the hearts of different persons to assist 
us personally, and by the money earned in somle 
special lectures, that I did not need this year a cent 
of commission due us, and let it go to cut down the 
debt so much. Time and space will not permit rain- 
ing any of the considerable number of instances of 
divine mercy during this year. It would simply be 
impracticable, were we other wise persuaded so to 
do, to record the names even of the many who gave 
us encouragement in this work. Instances of (special 
favor at the hands of railroad companies, instances 
of favor by entire strangers were constant reminders 
of the fact that I was on a journey for the Christ who 
is the head of all principalities and powers. Now 
comes the test of the power of the Spirit in adjusting 

S8 



claims. We were no sooner home again than our 
creditors began to look for settlement. With every 
man approached went up the prayer that God would 
open his heart, that the money might go as far as 
possible in adjusting college claims. But one in- 
stance can here be given. The college owed a man, 
who was regarded as very stingy. Upon the note had 
accrued more than one hundred dollars interest. He 
had agreed one year before to wait a year for settle- 
ment. As soon as I returned home I received a 
letter from him, saying he must have his money. I 
wrote him at once that I had the money. I told him 
how God had been with me during the year, and 
asked him to find out from the Lord how much he 
ought to give the college on the obligation. In a few 
days I received a letter from him stating that he 
would gladly give the interest, which amounted to 

over one hundred dollars, and also asked me to send 

.j 
him the name of our general missionary treasurer. 

I found out two years afterward, when in Dr. Mc- 
Kee's office at Dayton, Ohio, that on a date corre- 
sponding with these events there was sent the Doctor 
a donation of one hundred dollars by this same man 
for the permanent mission fund, and he was not a 
member of the United Brethren church, either. So 
you see when a man carries matters of duty to God, 
and allows him to settle it, it is always gospel meas- 
ure. During this year the old debt was largely re- 
duced, and at the Oregon conference, 1899, cash and 
^subscriptions secured for more than five hundred 
dollars as a beginning for some needed repairman d 
a new building for gymnasium and library purposes. 
Rev. P. O. Bonebrake was elected president, Presi- 
dent Miller having resigned to enter other work, and 
Rev. G W. Fisher, of California was added to. the 

59 



faculty, as teacher of languages, to take the place 
held by Rev. B. E. Emerick, who this year went to the 
Seminary. The work of the college proceeded upon 
the same lines of encouraging poor students, by pro- 
viding for them such labor as our conditions would 
permit. The new faculty force entered into the 
spirit of self-sacrifice in a most commendable mlan- 
ner, and the work in school was greatly blessed of 
the Lord, not only in good class work, but a gracious 
revival influence was manifest among the students in 
converting almost every unconverted student. Lum- 
ber and material was very cheap at this time, and on 
October 20th we had on the ground the material 
almost entire for the new building for gymnasium 
and library uses, and enough money and pledges to 
almost complete it for use. The building was put 
under roof by November 25, and was finished so as 
to be partly used, and the following year was com- 
pleted, so as to be used throughout. This has proved 
a valuable accession to our equipment, as it gives a 
room 24x40 feet for gymnasium purposes, a library 
room and two society halls for literary purposes, and 
r„s the work grows, and we are able to enlarge and 
modernize our main building, this new building can 
easily be converted into a gymnasium. All through 
the year, while occupied in work at the college or on 
the field in canvassing, we never loosed our grip one 
day from the promises of God to supply every need. 
Two important special gifts were received during 
this year that deserve special mention. The college 
furniture in the recitation rooms had been an tye- 
sore from the first. Time and again had it been a 
subject of thought and prayer. Great was our joy to 
receive, entirely uncought, humanely speaking, suffi- 
cient money from one brother at the time of great 

6o 



need as a gift especially for the purposes named, 
enough money to buy a good grade of sittings and 
tables and blackboards for our recitation rooms, and 
also paper for the same. The same want of furniture 
was greatly needed in the "College Home," but uow 
to supply it we knew not. Our time was all occupied 
with other needed things. But He knew. On a day 
or two following Christmas I received a check that 
I had not sent for, except to headquarters above, cov- 
ering this need From its proceeds we procured for 
each of the rooms in the "College Home" a new iron 
bedstead, with spring mattreiss and study table, and 
a new range for the kitchen. The same need is 
unmet in our very poor furnishings for the college 
chapel to this moment, but, as in our service we have 
not been able to procure the funds with which to 
meet it, we are not troubled over it, believing in due 
time we will be able to receive it by some means, or 
He who is our partner vail be pleased to call on 
some of his servants to meet it. In the summer and 
fall of 1899, following, two special gifts were given 
from two servants of God, both since gone to be with 
Jesus, that gave us no small degree of encourage- 
ment. We had come to our limit of funds in work 
on the gymnasium and library building. Some sub- 
scriptions were just then not available, and we 
needed funds very much. One of these gifts was from 
a brother who knew of the work on the building, and 
it/s possible need, and sent $100 to assist in it. The 
other was an offering of $50 from an aged servant of 
Christ, with the words, "use where most needed." 



6i 



FAITH AND VICTORY, 

CHAPTER VI. 

As one of the prime objects in view was the pay- 
ment of the last cent of outstanding debt against the 
college, we could not rest at ease until this had been 
accomplished. In the fall of 1900 it had been reduced 
to about $1150. We began a campaign to entirely 
clear this up. We could reach but a limited number 
of places in Oregon conference 1 with any profit, and, 
as some of these were struggling under weights of 
church debts it did not seem possible to realize much 
in such efforts. With a few struggling mission 
churches, and a few circuits that were paying pastors 
about half a support, and some of these but one or 
two years old, and some of them just whittled out of 
the woods, and trying to build for themselves houses 
of worship and parsonages,, we thought ourselves 
happy in a few weeks to reduce the old debt within 
the limit of $1000. Following this, in January, we 
started East for a final pull. I had my faith more 
sorely tried on thifi trip than any I had hitherto made, 
though I made up my mind not to return home until 
I got what I went after. Everybody seemed disgusted 
with debts, and it would cause a man's face to wrin- 
kle and twist to mention debt. I have traveled from 
house to house, day in and day out, and received but 
little. So I thought if the people were so disgusted 
with debt, I would keep before such minds some spe- 

62 



cial object of our advance work. This seemed to 
work well, for dollars soon began to pile up to aid 
our improvement fund. In one city alone we picked 
up some hundreds of dollaus in this way, to be ap- 
plied on debt and improvement. In some places we 
found it easy to obtain help for improvements, but a 
difficuL thing to get anything on debt. I noticed that 
in portions of the country over which I had been a 
few years beiore, I received more help than formerly, 
the people manifested the keenest interest in the 
welfare of the school. The last of March I was seven 
hundred dollars or more from the goal. I really, for 
a few days, became discouraged, and it seemed as 
though I would have to be content to return home 
with a part of the old debt unmet. How faith and 
courage wrestled witL that awful obstacle. Would it 
ever be paid? Would it be possible to meet enough 
people willing to help on the old debt to wipe out 
that seven hundred dollars? To manifest outward 
discouragement never would do. Hence, when busil> 
engaged in canvassing, I was incessantly praying and 
trying to believe in ultimate success. This exercise 
of faith and prayer continued until I came into a 
restful state of mind regarding the whole matter, and 
I felt assured that the debt would bo met. I closed 
my canvass in Ohio, and started intj Pennsylvania. 
Worn out and tired I called at the parsonage in 
Greensburg, where I was royally welcomed by Broth- 
er J. A. Eby. A pile of letters awaited me. Among 
the lot were two from my dear wife. Her joy was so 
great at the contents of a letter she had received that 
she forgot to tell me all of it in one letter, and wrote 
another to finish. She had received a letter from a 
brother, who I had never seen, and to whom I had 
never written for money, containing a check for five 

63 



hundred dollars, "to be applied on the college debt " 
I will not attempt to tell you how I felt. It was the 
Lord's doings, and was marvelous in our eyes. It 
seems that this brother, who sent the check, did not 
at the time know that I was East in canvas>s for the 
school, as he had sent the check to Oregon. From 
Greensburg we operated a few days at points in 
western Penn. and picked up another hundred 
dollars. Thil.3 left a little over one hundred net to 
raise to meet the debt. This was secured on the mad 
to Eastern Pennsylvania, and in that part of the 
country. By the kind invitation of Rev. W. H. Wash- 
inger, we spent the week preceding General Confer- 
ence in rest at Chambersburg. 

In review of these events we have to thank God 
that during this winter and spring not only had the 
entire balance of debt been provided for, with a mar- 
gin of one hundred and fifty dollars for shrinkage in 
subscriptions, which, however, did not shrink much, 
but between nine hundred and one thousand dol- 
lars had been secured for special improvements. In 
the meantime our family needs had been looked after, 
no bills had been contracted for home needs, our 
traveling expenses had been met, and all personal 
expenses on the road besides. It was an established 
custom on the road that whenever fifty or one nun- 
dred dollars were secured to turn it at once into a 
check and put it out of my reach, or apply it at cnee 
on some college obligation. It might be interesting 
to some brethren to know that more than once, when 
standing on a conference floor, or in the pulpit, 
preaching or pleading the cause of the college or our 
coast mission work, I have been practically without 
money, having emptied my pocket the day before, and 
put it where it would be secure for its intended ob- 

64 



jects, keeping cnly enough to carry me to the Lext 
place, with a small balance with which to meex any 
incidental, as a meal or otherwise. In some instances 
my sole capital amounted to less than one dollar, and 
among entire -strangers. To our Heavenly Father's 
praise I record that net once did I ever have even an 
occasion to draw on any funds placed in deposit, the 
Lord meeting my needs on the advance march. Ar- 
riving at Pittsburg, I counted my expense money 
twice to see if I had enough to purchase a ticket to 
go forward, and at Harrisburg I literally emptied my 
pocket to send alrndst every cent I had in meeting a 
college obligation by mail. Many peculiar experi- 
ences occur, as a matter of course, in such a life, but 
if our trust is in the living God "all things work to- 
gether for good " A pastor had invited me to give a 
missionary lecture in his church. The date was 
set, and I started on my itinerary, suppos- 
ing everything all right. On the appointed day I was 
on the ground. Upon meeting the pastor I learned 
that no announcement of the meeting had been made, 
and he had written me not to come, which I had not 
received. I learned that the reason for this was that 
some church officials had objected to my speaking, 
because they contemplated some church improve- 
ments and were fearful that my canvass there would 
interfere with their work. The pasto** treated me 
with every consideration, and seemed much disap- 
pointed with any interference with his plans. I be- 
lieved I was in the way of the Lord, and no board 
of officials could stand against me getting the money 
God intended me to have. So I said to the pastor, "If 
the Lord wants me to have any money in this town, 
your people will get none of it, and, more than that, 
they ought not to want it." I always feel sorry when 

65 



I find a church that is officered by that notion of 
things. It reminds me of the earnest appeal of an 
old colored preacher. Some of his leading members 
had winced and complained of his earnest appeals 
for mission and other benevolences. Rising to the 
height of his eloquence, he said, "Breddern, show me 
a church da am killed by gibbin, and I will climb 
into the tower of dat church and wid thunder tones 
preach its funeral from de text. 'Blessed am de dead 
dat die in de Lord.' " Suffice to say that I got what 
I went after. Another instance, I stopped off at a 
little country town, where a revival was progressing. 
The pastor invited me to preach at the night ser- 
vice, and gave me the privilege of a few minutes to 
speak of my work. I did not aisk for a collection, but 
passed cards to any who might desire to assist me, 
leaving it wholly a matter of free will. About fifteen 
dollars was handed me at the close of the service. A 
wiry little man, that proved to be steward, invited me 
home with him. When informed of how much I had 
received, he said, "We are behind with our preach- 
er's salary, and if you fellows knew what a time we 
have to raise our preacher's salary you would not 
come here picking up our loose money." For a mo- 
ment I kind of felt guilty, and began to feel like an 
intruder. Such an official rdbuke almost gave me 
the chills. Regaining my balance, I said, "Perhaps it 
will relieve you somewhat to know that ten dollars of 
the fifteen came from two ladies outside your church, 
members of another denomination." I relate these 
instances because they are so abnormal, and are in 
such striking contrast to> the universal sympathy and 
spirit of co-operation extended to me throughout our 
church. It has been my privilege to visit a number 
of our older colleges, and have received help and a 

66 



"God bless you" from noble men in their faculties, and 
from citizens of towns where these institutions are 
located, and some men who have been the stanchest 
of friends of other colleges have shown the largest 
catholicity of spirit by most generously aiding the 
work I represented. Ais one man said to me, "Our 
schools are most vitally conected with our church 
life, especially so in mission districts, and the church 
at large should somehow feel that an institution in a 
mission field is worthy of as much consideration at 
its hands as the college that is surrounded by strong 
conferences and well-to-do churches." So I have 
great cause for gratitude for the almost universal co- 
operation that has been given me, and upon the 
same ground I have reason to believe the same will 
continue to be forthcoming. The church is one, and 
its life one. The missionary spirit is its dominant 
feature, and to establish and firmly fix its work in 
the great Pacific Coast region, this fact must not be 
lost sight of. 

By the last of June of this year every cent of out- 
standing debt against Philomath College was can- 
celed, and we had between $900 and $1000 in cash, 
given for special purposes. Since we have received 
two annuities of one thousand dollars each, a number 
of donations in smaller sums for special purposes 
and general use. Years ago the college had borrowed 
quite a bit of its small endowment for contingent 
purposes. This was not included in our "outstanding 
debt." Since the outstanding debt was met, assets 
have been added to the permanent fund, that, at a 
conservative estimate, more than covers this old 
loan, and, though but little of these are at present 
productive, they are practically secure to the col- 
lege in the form of notes, deeds and bequests, for all 

67 



of which we thank God and take courage, and look for 
better things. Steps have been taken, by adjusting 
the articles of incorporation, so that no debts against 
the institution can be contracted, or any funds di- 
verted from their intended uses. 

OUR FIELD AND OUR NEEDS. 

The man who does not see in the light of present 
day openings that the Pacific Coast is coming to be 
the greatest portion of our great country is greatly 
deficient in vision.. This is not the judgment of coast 
men only, but page after page of statements from 
prominent educators and statesmen East could be 
given in support of this opinion. The U. S. govern- 
ment sees it, hence the interest manifest in all that 
pertains to the isthmian canal, and the immense ap- 
propriations by congress for the improvement of our 
rivers and harbors. Other churches are seeing it, 
and, instead of slacking in interest, are doubling their 
efforts to> make sure their position, and their church 
work for the future. The United Brethren church is 
being established at a great sacrifice, upon the part 
of its ministers and teachers. When I plead for a 
tetter condition of things for Philomath College, I 
plead for the future of the church on the coast. Much 
is said, perhaps none too much, of the sacrifices of 
the foreign missionaries, and we sometimes think the 
days of heroic effort in the home field are past I 
wish I had time and space to dwell in detail upon the 
heroic toil of some of our ministers and ministers' 
wives. A most commendable advance is made in 
some of the older conferences in demanding a mini- 
mum of $500 or more salary. Such a step with us 
now would not be possible. Our ministers must 
be trained to sacrifice and hard service for 

68 



our work here. Hence the absolute need for the 
greatest efficiency, that our coast ministers for the 
future get largely their training here, that we raise 
our own preachers cut of the brush and off these 
prairies, and train them here. We have a faculty of 
noble teachers, who have caught the spirit of heroic 
effort, and working hard to keep the institution un- 
embarrassed, and to help as many young men and 
women as possible through school. President Emer- 
ick is a graduate of Westfield College and Union 
Biblical Seminary. Professor Caldwell is from York 
College. Professors White and McDonald are gradu- 
ates of Philomath. These, with three assistants, 
constitute the teaching force The school is well 
filled with students. Last year the factulty aided 
about fifteen young men and women by giving work 
to help them through. Why should not the church 
provide for the permanency of such work? Why 
should not our heroic teachers be provided for as 
well as the man in the pulpit of a missionary church? 
The missionary board supplements the support of 
the local congregation in our mission churches in im- 
portant places, but what board pleads the cause of or 
gives any financial aid to the teacher in our schools 
in these same mission districts? Are they doing a 
work less important? In the absence of any pro- 
vision to meet this need we are thrown upon the 
Lord, and the benevolence of the people. Gifts of 
books or funds to add to our library will be greatly 
appreciated. The needs of this field will be the more 
seen when it is remembered that our students come, 
for the most part from the sturdy class of hard work- 
ens, who, with little, are whittling out homes, and 
helping to build churches where none exists. At this 
time the writer has plans ahead to labor in evangel- 

69 



istic work the whole of next summer in districts full 
of people, not easily accessible in the winter, and 
where, for the most part, poor religious organization, 
or none at all, exists. In some of these localities no 
effective preaching has ever been, and yet the people 
are intelligent and want the gospel. Shall we not 
give it to them, and shall they not be encouraged to 
isend their sons and daughters to obtain Christian 
training. These facts, together with the excellent 
openings made, and others inviting us, in promising 
towns and cities on the coast, only emphasize the 
need of our educational work on the coast. 

CONCLUSION. 

The work of Philomath College is not a boom. It 
has been a steady growth under present plan of 
work. The only financial risk to the institution has 
been borne by the faculty and business manager. 
But there is involved in this effort the present and 
future honor of the church to whom the institution 
belongs. Will the church help it to a better equip- 
ment and better support for its teachers? It is but 
a child among our other colleges, but there is a 
child's future before it, provided it has proper suste- 
nance and He helped by placing in its hands tools 
with which to work out its destiny. This the church 
can do without a sacrifice. If every man and wo- 
man in the church with whom the Lord may be 
pleased to bring us in touch will devote some specific 
offering and a prayer for this work, you will be sur- 
prised at the results in the years to come. Shall it be 
done? 

We can without difficulty obtain sufficient a suf- 
ficient amount of land, upon which to enlarge an 

70 



industrial arm of help, to assist worthy young men 
and women to obtain Christian training. Six acres 
are already operated with profit to the institution. 
As this land is handy to market, with a comparatively 
small outlay to begin, and supplemented by varying 
sums from year to year, the proceeds of a valuable 
property can be made as available to the institution 
as if it was actual caJsh in hand, at the low rate of 
interest now obtained for money, and this without 
outlay, other than the funds necessary to equip it 
and operate it. 

Mixed farming, including grain, hay, fruit raising, 
vegetable culture, poultry raising and dairying are 
always reasonably profitable in Oregon. We can 
easily dispose of all the garden seeds in bulk that 
we can produce at a fair price to seedsmen. Student 
labor can be used to operate such a plant as this in a 
way to not only pay a reasonable interest on money 
invested, but the good done by aiding these worthy 
young men and women who want training, and are 
without means, will ten times repay the church in 
an improved type of service and workers in the 
years to come. Before I had ever seen anything of 
this sort, I became convinced of its practicability. It 
has since been my privilege to visit an institution in 
another part of our country, under the influence of a 
sister denomination, where I have seen wrought out 
the very principles that I have advocated for sev- 
eral years as possible, and for which I now contend. 

If the Lord be pleased to commit to us the funds 
to operate an industrial benevolent arm of work, it 
will be maintained upon the following principles: 

1. A continuation of the non-debt making policy 
that now maintains in the school. 

2. The college will in no sense be financially in- 

7i 



volved by its operation, but will receive the benefits 
derived from the same. 

3. None but dependent worthy young men and 
women will be admitted to its privileges, others being 
able to pay their way. 

Our space will not permit any detail of this plan, 
but we are constrained to make this announcement 
by the fact that so many young persons with whom 
we have come in touch during the past year have 
despaired of entering college, because it did not seem 
possible for them to continue when once in. It 
seems to us that faith and industry ought to solve 
this problem. The land is ready. Have we the 
means? The Lord has. Will we be entrusted with 
it? Time will tell. Large gifts, as a rule, follow 
demonstrated experiments of this sort. If successful 
it is not difficult for men to give and place funds in 
trust for such purposes. What God wants, even 
more than our giving, is the prayer of our hearts 
for such a work. Shall He have both? 

To endow and equip an institution for such a 
purpose certainly is nothing less than seeking to 
carry on the work instituted by Jesus when on earth. 
In bringing the advantages of Christian training 
within the reach of the lowly, are we not helping 
the Christian college to fulfill its true mission? 




LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



028 356 893 3 # 




